Tampa, FL

Tampa's NRI overall score of 84 places it in the top 16 percent of US counties for expected annual loss—but the flood and hurricane sub-scores, at the 96th and 97th national percentiles respectively, tell the sharper story. Hurricane Helene's regional flooding in 2024 demonstrated what drainage engineers had long flagged: Tampa Bay's geometry concentrates surge in ways that broad county maps understate. Hurricane Ian in 2022 added a second data point—evacuation stress, insurance repricing, and storm-surge planning revisions affected the wider metro even without a direct hit. We checked twice: Davis Islands sits at genuinely low elevation, and its insurance profile reflects that. Bayfront and canal-adjacent homes price far above the city median, sometimes exceeding the $7,600 upper end of typical annual premiums. South Tampa's school-demand reputation draws buyers who underweight water and wind exposure. Westshore's commercial density can mask repetitive flood issues in adjacent residential blocks. Roof age and wind mitigation reports are the two underwriting levers that move Tampa premiums most. A post-2002 roof with a completed wind mitigation report can price materially below a comparable property without one. Port Tampa and canal corridors face the strongest insurance pressure—not because of headline hurricane risk alone, but because of the compound effect of surge geometry, drainage limits, and claims history. Heat at the 84th national percentile adds operating costs that buyers focused on storm scenarios often miss entirely. Summer cooling loads in Tampa are not incidental. They are a monthly expense that compounds across decades of ownership.

— Open Data Collective